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On Monday night the Finance Committee met to discuss warrant articles for Annual Town Meeting in May. The committee previously voted not to recommend approval of a Community Preservation Committee article that would fund the study and design of a wider driveway to access Parkinson Field and an accessible connection to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Prior coverage here.
The Finance Committee’s earlier vote not to recommend approval was a 2-5 vote. Since that vote, the Finance Committee co-chairs, Mike Joachim and Eric Poch, met with the Select Board on March 26 to discuss the committee’s recommendations on the articles for Annual Town Meeting. Select Board Chair Janie Dretler asked clarifying questions about their position on the Parkinson Field article. After some back-and-forth, she encouraged the Finance Committee to gather more information and revisit their position. That led to the Finance Committee rescinding their vote during their April 1 meeting.
On Monday, a staff member from the Sudbury Planning department, Marcia Rasmussen, and members of the Rail Trails Advisory Committee presented additional information about the article and answered several questions. (5:25:00) Several members who reversed their votes noted that they were previously unaware of the relationship of the driveway to the rail trail. The committee voted 8-1 to recommend approval of the article. Member Carty was the “no” vote.
The article, if it passes at Annual Town Meeting, would provide $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to study and design a solution for the one-lane driveway. (Page 47) During discussions on Monday supporters of the article noted the safety issues that could be exacerbated when the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail opens to the public. Increasing traffic on the one-lane driveway, which lets out onto Hudson Road near the intersection with Peakham Road and a rail trail crossing, has been a concern for quite some time. Other supporters, including co-chair Eric Poch, highlighted the strategic importance of this location on rail trail, and previously raised concerns about the negative impacts of the narrow driveway on adjacent trail neighbors, including a local business, Ti-SALES.
While the vote was overwhelmingly supportive of the project to study and design a driveway solution, several members raised concerns about the eventual cost to build the new driveway. The article now proceeds to Annual Town Meeting with the support of the Select Board and Finance Committee, but without the support of the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee.